Networking Discoveries from an Introverted Entrepreneur

To some, the
word “networking” conjures up ideas about stale meetings, a dry chicken entre,
or a room full of strangers where you feel completely out of place. Palms
sweating and a head filled with negative thoughts, you enter the meeting
thinking of ways to make a quick exit and get on with your “real” work.

I know these feelings because I used to be this person I described
above! This may shock some of you who know me through business, but I’m really
an introvert at heart. As a former amateur figure skater and theatre performance
minor and with hundreds of performances under my belt, I am quite accustomed to
being in front of groups of hundreds and thousands. However, entering a
conference room filled with people I don’t know and stack of my business cards
in my purse used to really get my knees knocking! But I kept doing it because
somehow I knew it would be helpful to my business. What I didn’t realize is how
much it would also help me personally. I don’t recall exactly when the shift
happened for me, but I slowly uncovered a few things that made formal networking
meetings much easier and even quite enjoyable for me. Here are few of my
discoveries:

Discovery
#1:
Most everyone you meet falls into one of these categories:

Furthermore, you
likely fall into one of the three categories for them as well! Several years
ago, I embraced this realization and created a game for myself. I decided to
meet at least three people at each networking meeting and see which of these
categories they were in for me and which I was in for them. This was not
something that I told them I was doing, I just did it to make my time at the
meeting extremely intentional and worthwhile. I ended up meeting a lot of people
by playing this game and started connecting people together. It really became a
lot of fun for me! Before I knew it, people were calling me “The Great
Connector,” which was really funny to me because I didn’t have deep
relationships with many of these people yet. I was just listening to others,
understanding their businesses and their needs and pointing them in the
directions they told me they needed to go!

Discovery
#2: I
needed a “networking toolkit.”

My networking toolkit
consists of the following items:

I have recently
added a camera and will soon add a Flip
camera as well so I can take video easily and add it to my
web site and blog! Having my networking toolkit at meetings helps me be prepared
to make the most of meeting prospects, connecting others and promoting my
business.

Discovery
#3:
Arrive early or stay late

To make an impact and find the
movers and shakers at any event, I discovered that I needed to do one of two
things: Arrive early or be one of the last to leave. By arriving just five
minutes early, I found that I got to meet the people running the event. They are
the ones who could point me in the right direction and introduce me to others
that I needed to know. Also, I discovered that the people behind the
registration table are usually “in the know.” Let them know who you are and find
out who they are too, because they can help you make the most of the meeting.
Staying late is also a great networking strategy. Those who stay late are
usually making appointments, doing business and connecting people!

Discovery
#4:
Keeping score is for sports, not networking

After
becoming quite skilled at connecting people, someone once said to me, “Thank you
for all the referrals! I hope to send as many people to you soon.” While I
appreciated her sentiment, I don’t approach networking as a “this-for-that” kind
of proposition. I don’t expect anything but “thank you” from those I connect.
It’s not important to me to keep score of how many referrals I make to each
person. The goal in networking is to meet and get to know people and figure out
which one of the three categories from above they fall into. Once I figure that
out, I know how to follow up with them.

Since learning these and other
important networking lessons, I now approach networking as a way to build my
community of incoming and outgoing referrals. I really enjoy networking, which I
actually prefer to call “connecting” because I find it to be rewarding
personally and professionally to connect great people together. And that is a
part of creating my Rich Life?